


Operation Cheer Up Kylo

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [232]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-26 00:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10775967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Hux finds an unusual ally.





	Operation Cheer Up Kylo

The one Hux affectionately (sort of) internally refers to as ‘Button-Head’ is the first to approach him. He _does_ know their names, but as none of them have ever bothered to officially introduce themselves to him, he’s never given them the satisfaction of knowing he knows. 

Button-Head is the one who was the ringleader in the ‘if you hurt our Master’s precious feelings we will rain down wrath and fury’ brigade, so it’s no surprise that it’s him who corners Hux in the corridor, when Hux is about to retire for the night.

“We need to talk about the Master,” Buttons says, his voice raspy and holding more than a little concern.  


“The Master, or the Leader?” Hux asks, cautiously.  


“ _Master_ ,” Buttons insists, his tone huffy and put-upon.  


Hux looks up and down the corridor. No one is listening, and no one is likely to come this way, so…

“If this is another attempt to impress upon me how much I need to–”  


“He’s not right,” Buttons cuts in, rudely. “He’s not himself.”  


 _Then who is he_? the sarcastic voice wants to ask, but Hux tells it to shut up. “No. I’ve noticed it, too.”

He’s not sleeping through the nights as easily. He’s talking less, smiling less. He’s guarding his wounds more than he should, moving less surely, exercising less. 

Hux has definitely noticed.

“You know what happened?” Buttons asks.  


He does, but is it his place to say? Hux’s face scrunches, and he fights a battle, double-time, inside his head. “He killed Han Solo, and… the scavenger girl took his grandfather’s saber.”

Buttons nods, sagely. “We suspected it was his former family. It is what normally makes him act like this. Them, or you.”

“…me?”  


“Before you were together. He was miserable.”  


“…because of me?”  


“Because he was convinced you hated him, and he… liked you.”  


Oh. _Oh_. Hux is strangely flattered, touched, alarmed, and… all sorts of things at once. “So you wanted to know if this was a lover’s tiff?”

“Mostly we want to fix it. Whatever it is.”  


It’s true they’d argued a bit. About the droid, the pilot, the map, the girl, the weapon… but Hux had been sure the worst friction about those disagreements had been because of Luke Skywalker. The Jedi’s resurgence - or potential resurgence - had made every minor abrasion into a huge, gaping wound. 

And Hux hadn’t really known how to patch over them.

“Do you have a plan?” he asks Buttons, relieved to know they can conspire together. Alone, he might struggle to help. With six Knights, they could stand a chance.  


“We would like to kill the girl, and the Jedi, when we can,” Buttons replies. “Any help you can provide in finding them would be appreciated. We want to make sure one of us goes with him if he finds out where…”  


“I can make sure he doesn’t set out alone,” Hux promises.   


“And he usually feels better if he can get back into sparring. We have tried, but he won’t come train with us.”  


Hmm. “What if I ask him to help _me_ train?”

Buttons’ head tilts. “To protect yourself from Jedi?”

“Nominally, yes. But also to give him a goal, and to get him back into the swing of things, without it being… too challenging.” He knows he’s decent enough at what he can do, but Hux does not - and will never - have the Force. He will always be one step behind.  


“That is a good plan,” the Knight agrees. “And if we can find some small mission for him, something not too challenging, so he gets a sense of accomplishment?”  


“I can definitely find something.”  


“We will help however you need. Just send us a message. We are all… in… this.”  


Hux allows himself a single, thin smile. “I appreciate it.”

Buttons makes to go, and then pauses. “We worried you would be bad for him. We tried to stop him from pursuing you. We… may have been wrong.”

That’s possibly the nicest thing anyone who isn’t Kylo has ever said to him, and he clips his heels together. “I may also have been wrong, about… your Order. So here’s to being right.”

The Knight doesn’t reply, but his head ducks in what _almost_ passes for a salute as he heads out. Yes. They’re a lot better than he’d ever given them credit for. 

Now they just need to get Kylo back up and running. At least now, they have a plan.


End file.
